Related Links: Link to EPA assessment Link to additional peer-reviewed articles and reports A new U.S. Environmental Protection Agency draft assessment confirms what many engineering, construction and oil and gas companies have been saying for years: that hydraulic fracturing, when done properly, does not have a negative impact on drinking-water sources.The long-awaited, congressionally mandated study, released on June 4, examined the potential impacts that hydraulic fracturing and related activities can have on current drinking-water sources and potential sources, such as groundwater.The assessment, which EPA says is more a scientific document than a policy report, concludes that U.S. hydraulic fracturing activities
Photo By Lynn Betts, USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service Critics contend that EPA and the Corps went too far in redefining wetlands (pictured) and other bodies as "Waters of the United States.: Related Links: New Rule's Definition of "Waters of the United States" House OKs Bill to Block EPA's Waters Rule (ENR 05/18/2015 issue) [subscription] With a newly issued final regulation, the Environmental Protection Agency and Army Corps of Engineers are seeking to end years of uncertainty over which streams, wetlands and other bodies of water fall under federal jurisdiction and which are governed by the states.But the rule, which
Photo by AP Wideworld Houston motorists were stranded in their vehicles along North Main on May 26, as record rainfall caused flash flooding along major thoroughfares in the city and throughout the region. Related Links: After Sandy, FEMA Flood Maps Are a Moving Target Clear skies replaced storm clouds in Texas and Oklahoma on June 1, but floodwaters from May's record rains remained, slowing crews' efforts to determine damage totals as residents and businesses tried to return to flooded buildings.Texas, where 23 deaths had been confirmed by June 1, was declared a federal disaster area before the rain stopped. The
The Washington National Cathedral's hilltop location in northwest Washington, D.C., has long given the limestone-on-masonry Gothic Revival structure a visibility enjoyed by few other structures in the nation's capital.
California Wastewater Project Gets Record $1.6B EPA Loan The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $1.6 billion in Clean Water Act State Revolving Funds (SRF) - the largest block of financing it has ever issued - for a $2-billion upgrade of the Sacramento regional wastewater treatment plant in Elk Grove, Calif., which broke ground on May 28.Construction, set to take eight years, will bring the 181- million-gallon-per-day plant to advanced treatment. It has been one of the largest sources of ammonia and nitrate pollution in the San Francisco Bay-Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta estuary, says EPA.Louisiana Legislators Approve $884M for Gulf Coast
Related Links: Industry Awaits Anticipated Award of P3 Contract for LaGuardia Terminal Public-Private Partnerships Will Be Key in Bridge, Airport Projects: Port Authority Chief The aging and outmoded Central Terminal Building at New York City's LaGuardia Airport moved a step closer to handling its final flights with the selection of LaGuardia Gateway Partners (LGP) as the preferred bidder for the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey's $3.6-billion terminal replacement project.The Queens, N.Y.-based LGP team is made up of Skanska USA Building Inc.; Skanska USA Civil Northeast Inc.; Walsh Construction; Parsons Brinckerhoff; Hellmuth, Obata + Kassabaum PC; and Vantage
Related Links: Southern Co. Refuels Coal Fleet With Gas Mississippi Energy Co-Op Pulls 15% Stake in $6B gasification power projectMississippi Power is "still evaluating" next steps after the South Mississippi Electric Power Association, a statewide energy cooperative with 11 member utilities, said it will halt its plan to buy a 15% interest in the 582-MW Kemper County integrated gasification combined-cycle project, a spokesman said on June 1.SMEPA directors voted on May 20 "to end pursuit" of its stake in the project, whose estimated cost has doubled to more than $6 billion and whose likely commercial operation has stretched two years,
Fishermen’s Energy, which seeks to develop a 25-MW wind farm off the New Jersey coast, is expected to appeal to the state’s court a May 29 lower court decision that upheld a state regulator’s veto of the estimated $200-million project, say company officials.The wind farm, which began some construction in December, has won some state permits to five wind turbines about three miles offshore, as well as a $47-million U.S. Dept. of Energy grant.But the state Superior Court appellate division sided with New Jersey's Board of Public Utilities in its denial to build the turbines because of questions of economic
Related Links: Low and Slow Across America's Infrastructure Crossing the Mississippi River into Missouri was significant for Mrs. Martin and her crew.Click on the image to begin the slide show.
Related Links: U.S. Renewables Sector Soars, With Help From Tax Credits A Texas-based alternative-energy firm seeks expedited approval to build a 150-MW utility-scale solar-power project in southeastern Maryland after its plan to build a $200-million wind farm met with strong opposition from military officials and politicians who claimed turbine blades up to 500 ft high could interfere with operations at a nearby naval base. Local officials, who supported the project's economic and environmental benefits, now are battling with state politicians over a proposed permanent ban on wind projects in Maryland's eastern shore.The original plan by Pioneer Green Energy, Austin, to
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